From what I’ve seen, Airbnb’s algorithm definitely weighs multiple factors at once:Guest experience signals → reviews, star ratings, cancellations, complaintsListing engagement → clicks, saves, photos, how often people message after viewingHost behavior → response time, acceptance rate, cancellations, calendar accuracyBooking settings → instant book, cancellation flexibility, competitive pricingIf you’re firm on your cancellation policy but still want to rank high, it helps to:Keep response time under an hour.Refresh your calendar often (Airbnb pushes “active” hosts higher).Update photos or listing text every couple months so the system sees activity.Price competitively with nearby comps—dynamic pricing tools help.Push for consistent 5-star reviews (Airbnb rewards guest satisfaction the most).It’s not just about instant book or cancellation policy.

I recommend trying to find something on youtube with visual elements if this doesnt make sense. 

I hope Jules and I didn’t help with their algorithm rankings.

But in your situation, if I had to rank buying in a place that allowed STRs and buying in a place that had slightly better numbers but was less secure regulation-wise, I'd opt for the former.

So, if you fail to apply the correct assumptions to a property, your expectations won’t be met, and it may even be a financial disaster.We use the following to rank Property Classes, in order of importance: Property Tenant Pool: closely linked to location, but not always.

It also ranked second in housing overall with a 12% increase in stock, meaning more residential units were built to meet its growing population.

So, if you fail to apply the correct assumptions to a property, your expectations won’t be met, and it may even be a financial disaster.We use the following to rank Property Classes, in order of importance: Property Tenant Pool: closely linked to location, but not always.

Or do I start at $0 and add elements until there's nothing left?

:-)  But there is one element of the 4% Rule (or even 5% Safe Withdrawal Rate dicussed on the Podcast): How or when do you account for inflation in your withdrawal amounts? 

(Continuum:  A continuous sequence in which adjacent elements are not perceptibly different from each other, although the extremes are quite distinct.)